When was the last time you used only your desktop computer to shop for products and services online? If you’re like most people, it was before the emergence of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Even grandparents have grown accustomed to using their smartphones for calls, texting, shopping and interacting with family and friends on social media. If they’re doing it, you can count on just about everyone else in the world is doing it as well. If you’re serious about reaching your target audience, then mobile marketing is an absolute must. One way of doing this is using local SEO methods to help consumers find your company.
There are a ton of ways you can cater your marketing campaigns to mobile users. A great place to start is with your website.
Mobile-Friendly Design
Hopefully, you’ve already updated your site with a mobile-friendly design, which means that it’s responsive and has dynamic-serving to ensure site speed. A responsive web design is the most effective way to cater to internet users, no matter what device they’re using. It will also help boost your site rankings in search engines, which place heavy emphasis on mobile-friendliness. You can learn more about this from some of the best local SEO companies in the area.
Page Speed is Everything
Besides appeasing the Google gods, having a fast website will also keep your visitors happy. This means a lower bounce rate. Numbers show that 40 percent of internet surfers bounce from a site when it takes longer than three seconds to load.
You can find out how your pages are doing by using tools like PageSpeed Insights. It will check for mobile and desktop load times, and it will outline which features and elements are an issue. Another tool to consider is called GTmetrix.
To learn more about any speed concerns you come across, you should check out your AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) data. You can have AMPs used in your web design to help boost up the speed of your pages for mobile devices. This is nothing more than a stripped down version of HTML, allowing the pages to run more quickly and smoothly. Stats show AMPs tend to load 15 to 85 percent faster.
Claim Your Business… Everywhere
There are business listings just about everywhere on the web, including Yelp, Yellow Pages, Bing Places, Foursquare and CityGrid. If your business is listed in these local directories, then claim them as your own and fill in all the current, up-to-date information. Why is this important? Because people really do use these sites to find products and services locally (using mobile devices). And don’t forget about Apple Maps, which is used by iPhone users.
Keep Watch of Google Analytics
Here, you can find out information about your mobile stats, which you can review by time, day and device. See how people are accessing your site and how long they’re spending on it. Which pages are performing better than others? If you have a blog, this can help you determine which type of content you should continue pushing out to attract more mobile users.
Publish Content that’s Mobile-Friendly
Speaking of content, you need to make sure to create it so that it’s mobile-friendly. This means making it scannable using bullet points, short and concise paragraphs and implementing links and share buttons. Your meta data should also be short and to the point. Keep in mind the schedules of users when you publish – for instance, publish shorter content during the morning and afternoon, when they are most likely commuting to school or work, and the longer pieces in the evening and on weekends.
Consider Using Google My Business
Being found in the search engines is the key to obtaining long-term incoming traffic. If people can’t search for your business and actually find it, then there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Local Search Engine Optimization is key for helping users find companies like yours. This can be done using Google My Business, which allows you to fill in all of your business details, such as contact info, address and hours of operation. This is then displayed on Google Maps and Search. You can edit your information from one platform, as well as add photos and reply to comments and reviews. This is something that can help you with the management your online reputation.
Appealing to the mobile market is key for boosting your site traffic and ranking. Use the above tips to enhance your mobile marketing campaign today!
